6 rescued, 1 burned in Buena Park apartment fire

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Firefighters responded to a three-alarm fire at the Villa Grande apartment complex in Buena Park Sunday night. The apartment complex is at 7720 Crescent Ave, just west of Beach Boulevard and just south of Knott's Berry Farm.

Firefighters clean up after an apartment fire at 7720 Crescent Ave. in Buena Park Sunday.

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Fire damage at 7720 Crescent Ave. in Buena Park Is pictured Sunday.

Firefighters work an apartment fire at 7720 Crescent Ave. in Buena Park on Sunday.

Firefighters mop up at a fire at 7720 Crescent Ave. in Buena Park on Sunday.

Firefighters put a ladder up to a window to rescue a woman trapped by fire at 7720 Crescent Ave. in Buena Park on Sunday.

Firefighters battle a fire at 7720 Crescent Ave. in Buena Park on Sunday.

Firefighters help evacuate residents at a fire in Buena Park on Sunday night.

Firefighters set up a ladder to rescue residents at a fire at 7720 Crescent Ave. in Buena Park on Sunday.

A fire at 7720 Crescent Ave. in Buena Park Sunday night was a multiple alarm response.

Forty firefighters responded in a joint effort by the Anaheim Fire and Orange County Fire departments to fight a Buena Park apartment fire Sunday night.

First responders evacuate residents as other firefighters battle a fire at 7720 Crescent Ave. in Buena Park Sunday.

Fire units responded to an apartment complex fire at 7720 Crescent Ave, just west of Beach Boulevard and just south of Knott's Berry Farm.

Firefighters mop up after an apartment fire at 7720 Crescent Ave. in Buena Park on Sunday.

The fire was called in at 8:02 p.m. and one woman with serious burns was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange for treatment, said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Marc Stone. A construction crew tried to rescue the woman with a 12-foot-ladder, but it was too short to help. Stone said the woman ran back into the apartment and was then burned on her way out of the building.

Six other people (three children, two adults and one adult in hospice care) were rescued from the third floor by firefighters using ground ladders. Of those, three people were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment of smoke inhalation, Stone said.

Warren Longacre, 41, lives in the building and was using the computer when he started hearing people running and glass breaking. He looked outside and saw a naked man running down the sidewalk screaming “Call 911, Call 911.”

“I could see the fire hitting my wall,” Longacre said. “I started freaking out, grabbing everything, and I got out of there.”

Longacre said he did not smell smoke inside his residence and did not hear any alarms. He did not suffer from any smoke inhalation, but was still “real shocked and freaked out.”

The fire destroyed two units on the second and third floors in the back corner of the complex, directly above the parking garage. Smoke alarms did activate on the third floor, Stone said.

“This could have been a real tragedy,” Stone said. “We recommend smoke alarms on every floor. The earlier you know (of smoke) the better.”

The 44-unit apartment complex is at 7720 Crescent Ave., just west of Beach Boulevard and just south of Knott’s Berry Farm.

Forty firefighters responded in a joint effort by the Anaheim Fire and Orange County Fire departments, Stone said. Fire investigators were on scene attempting to determine the fire’s cause. Foul play is not suspected.

“We do not know yet how it started or why it started,” Stone said.

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